Persuasive Communication. Attitude. Lecture 2 Persuasion and Attitude. Oct 8, Def. of Persuasion Revisited. Def. of Attitude

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1 Persuasive Communication Lecture 2 Persuasion and Attitude Oct 8, 2018 Attitude <1>What is attitude? (Definition) <2>Attitude Measure (Observation) <3>Attitude & Persuasion (Function) Attitude Accessibility Attitude-Behavior Relationship etc. etc. Def. of Persuasion Revisited w Human communication designed to influence others by modifying their beliefs, values, or attitudes (Simons, 1976, p.21) Def. of Attitude w Evaluative response (Roskos-Esoldsen, et. al., 2002) w A relatively enduring organization of beliefs around an object or situation predisposing one to respond in some preferential manner (Rokeach, 1968, p.112) w Attitude = Belief + Evaluation (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) 1

2 Nature of Attitude w Learned ( ) w Organization of beliefs (belief w Relatively enduring ( ) w Predisposition to response ( ) Nature of Attitude w Organization of beliefs about an object (e.g., person, event, product, policy, institution, etc.) Descriptive beliefs (objective statement, T/F) Prescriptive beliefs (subjective feelings, evaluative judgment) Nature of Attitude w Relatively enduring Different from mood, from a temporary emotional state Indeed, attitudes are susceptible to change Nature of Attitude w Predisposition to response - may directly or indirectly influence behaviors - will not necessarily guarantee specific conducts 2

3 Observable Inferred Observable Observable Inferred Cognitive Response Attitude Object (Attitude Attitude Evaluative Response Attitude Object (Attitude Attitude Affective Response Behavioral Response Attitude and Persuasion (Attitude w Attitude as Schema ( Attitude) w Attitude Behavior Relationship (Attitude ) w Bias: Attitude serves as a lens that biases how the message is perceived (positively or negatively). w Selective Attention ( ): Attitude can serve as information that this is an important message. 3

4 <2> Attitude Measurement (Observation) w Direct Technique w Quasi-direct Technique w Indirect Technique <2> Attitude Measurement (Observation) w Direct Technique Semantic Differential Scales (SD ) Single-Item Attitude Measure w Quasi-direct Technique Thurstone Attitude Scale Likert Attitude Scale ( ) w Indirect Technique Physiological Indices Information Tests Lost-Letter Technique Direct Technique (1) Semantic Differential Scale w Use a number of (typically) 7-points bipolar scales that are end anchored by evaluative adjective pairs (good/bad, desirable/undesirable) w Straightforwardly assign numerical values to the scale points w Semantic Space of Experience ( ) Semantic Differential Scale The product X is: Bad Good Undesirable Desirable Harmful Beneficial This persuasion course is: Bad Good Boring Interesting Useless Useful 4

5 (2) Single-Item Attitude Measure Single-Item Attitude Measure w A single questionnaire item that asks for the relevant judgment. w Benefit: Good in Public Opinion Polling Can be undertaken orally Typically straightforward and easily comprehended Can be asked in a short time w Drawback: Potentially weak reliability Q. To what extent do you consider yourself to be favorable or unfavorable toward the Chinese government? Extremely Extremely Unfavorable Favorable Q. Do you love me? Very much Very much Yes No Direct Technique w Advantage: Simple & Straightforward, easy to administer, easy to construct Semantic differential scales can be used for rating all sorts of different attitude objects w Disadvantage: Yield an estimate only of the respondent s attitude Other info (esp. beliefs) need to be assessed by other procedures Quasi direct Techniques w The respondent s attitude is inferred from: judgments of statements that are rather obviously attitude-relevant the patterns of responses to a number of different statements 5

6 Quasi direct Techniques: Likert Attitude Scale w The test respondents are asked to indicate the extent of their agreement with a number of different items, commonly on a 5-point scale. w Overall attitude is estimated by the total across the items. Likert Attitude Scale Target: Attitude toward this course Q. This course is interesting (Positive) Q. This course has too many assignments (Negative) Q. The instructor of this course is not friendly (Negative) Likert Attitude Scale Q. This course is interesting (Positive) Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Q. This course has too many assignments (Negative) Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Q. The instructor of this course is not friendly (Negative) Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Quasi-Direct Technique w Advantage: Provide more info (attitude-relevant information such as specific beliefs) than do direct attitude measurement techniques Ranking technique / Attitude pie w Disadvantage: High cost (have to be constructed anew for each different attitude object, etc.) 6

7 Purpose: Task: Example To persuade the enrolled students at KNDU to have positive attitude toward the university. To measure the status quo Target Population: enrolled KNDU students Target of observation/measurement: attitude toward KNDU Attitude Measurements w Direct Technique Semantic Differential Scales Single-Item Attitude Measure w Quasi-direct Technique Likert Attitude Scale Semantic Differential Scale Single-Item Attitude Measure 7

8 Likert Attitude Scale 8